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Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore More at IMDbPro »

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84 reviews in total

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63 out of 71 people found the following review useful:
Priceless, 20 March 2004

Author: marcosaguado from Los Angeles, USA

People forget that "ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE" is a Scorsese film. Look at it again and you'll see it is one hundred percent Scorsese. Totally focused on a female character. I read somewhere that Ellen Burstyn asked Scorsese "How well do you know women" and Scorsese replayed "Not well at all, but I'm willing to learn" The portrait of Alice adds something to film female characters that had never been present on the screen before. All those Joan Crawford fighting working class women seem like a joke compared to Ellen Burstyn's Alice. Jodie Foster steps into the screen with a funny, touching BANG. If you've never seen this film, hurry up! If you've seen it, see it again.

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37 out of 39 people found the following review useful:
Scorsese's Overlooked Masterpiece, 15 September 2003

Author: David (davidals@msn.com) from Chapel Hill, NC, USA

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

*SPOILER ALERT*

This small and oft-overlooked offering from Martin Scorsese (his 4th feature) ranks among his best and most interesting for a number of reasons – it's one of the only Scorsese films with a woman as the protagonist, and – in typical Scorsese fashion she's tough, if a bit conflicted (like most of his male protagonists) – and real, in other words. ALICE...also provides a another great glimpse of his very original style as it was developing – the continuum between MEAN STREETS, this film, and TAXI DRIVER in look, mood and performance is perfect, as the post new-wave grit and furious energy of MEAN STREETS is a bit more focused here.

Overall, ALICE... is a more subdued character study which – like life - swings from gripping to scary to funny to touching in the blink of an eye. Also notable as one of Scorsese's handful of non-New York stories (like LAST TEMPTATION, CASINO and KUNDUN), ALICE... follows Alice Hyatt (Ellen Burstyn, fresh out of THE EXORCIST and at her peak) – a California native, living in New Mexico with her truck driver husband. Suddenly widowed, Alice decides that she and Joey are going to take off, on what little cash they have left, for California, so she can pursue her long-dormant dream of becoming a singer. They make it as far as Arizona before Alice runs out of cash and has to stop to find work. After initially landing in Phoenix – Alice ends up living in a rent-by-the-week motel in Tuscon, working at Mel's, a trashy diner run by its' amusingly belligerent namesake Mel (Vic Tayback), and staffed by the wild-but-wise Flo (Diane Ladd, in another amazing performance) and psychologically unstable Vera (Valerie Curtin). Before long Alice begins to put down roots, and she takes up with David (Kris Kristofferson), a local rancher.

The lone potential flaw is the ending, which feels like a compromise - if after discovering her confidence and independence, Alice feels like she oughta ride off into the sunset of Monterrey, she also wants companionship, and has allowed this desire to lead her into questionable choices in men (witness one of Harvey Keitel's most unforgettable performances) because of it. So, if a somewhat conflicted ideology lingers through a film where tough mindedness and harsh reality (interrupted by the occasional bit of lifelike, randomlike humor) gives way to romance, then perhaps it simply is indicative of how cerebral ideologies sometimes will – or should – crumble in the face of human emotions and desires.

In any case this thoughtful tension at the heart of this beautifully acted, beautifully filmed tour-de-force gives ALICE... a rich, earthy energy that places it among the most thoughtful and multifaceted films (like TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL and also the underrated KUNDUN) that Scorsese has ever made.

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34 out of 37 people found the following review useful:
One of Scorsese's best, 21 September 2004

Author: TalosIV from USA

I actually prefer this film to Mean Streets or Raging Bull. Ellen Burstyn was always a personal favorite and she is absolutely brilliant as Alice. This film bears no resemblance to the sitcom that would spin off from it. This is a textured, touching and humorous look at a woman's journey BACK towards independence. It is far superior and a much more mature film than, say, Thelma & Louise. If you're looking for female "empowerment" movies. Alice is reality. The fine cast also includes, Harvey Keitel and Diane Ladd. Both in fantastic performances. This is just a great movie and very overlooked. If you're getting into Scorsese, don't miss this one!

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25 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
Burstyn Is One of the Greats, 30 September 2005

Author: brocksilvey from United States

Ellen Burstyn could play a tree stump and make it interesting. She's one of the unsung heroes of post-studio cinema. At a time when meaty women's roles were becoming more and more scarce, Burstyn was fighting for and winning one great part after another. She's probably never been better than she is here, though she showed tremendous range in "Same Time, Next Year" and gave one of the most heartbreakingly harrowing performances I've ever seen as recently as 2000, in "Requiem for a Dream." Women's picture and Martin Scorsese are not two phrases that would seem to be tailor made for each other, but a terrific women's picture is exactly what Scorsese gives us with "Alice..." Though I hate using the term women's picture, as if men can't enjoy stories about women, or as if women's pictures are isolated from the rest of "real" movies. Actually and ironically, maybe it was Scorsese's penchant for the tough-guy milieu that made him so right for this film, because "Alice" doesn't suffer from the burn-your-bra self-righteousness of other women's lib movies of its era, like "Un Unmarried Woman." These other films ultimately feel phony, because they were created for the most part by men, who, however noble their intentions, simply didn't have an understanding for the material. But Scorsese gets the character of Alice, and Burstyn knows exactly what she's doing. So the conflict isn't between Alice and the male world, but between the Alice who doesn't have the confidence to be anything other than a doormat and the Alice who wants to make a life for herself on her own terms.

There are some hilarious scenes between Alice and her son in this film, most particularly the scenes of them driving to California (like when Alice calls him Hellen Keller because he keeps asking "what?" to everything she says). Also, a subplot about the evolving friendship between Alice and Flo (played by Diane Ladd) becomes one of the film's highlights, not in the least because both actresses handle it expertly.

This is a winner, and must be seen by anyone who thinks Scorses is out of his element anywhere but the mean streets of NYC.

Grade: A

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27 out of 30 people found the following review useful:
Landmark from the 70's, 18 July 2000

Author: Boyo-2

I loved this movie when I saw it in its initial release - after "The Exorcist", I thought Ellen Burstyn ruled the world. This movie is still good today, has many interesting and funny characters. There are touches that suggest director Martin Scorsese was still getting familiar with actors and camera movement - when Alice cries at an audition in a bar, and goes to another bar because they have a piano..its Marty all the way. Harvey Keitel & Jodie Foster are in the movie in small parts; maybe they were having their own audition - for "Taxi Driver". Diane Ladd is very funny as filthy-mouthed Flo, but Ellen Burstyn is fantastic in the part that won her an Oscar against some pretty stiff competition - Faye Dunaway in "Chinatown" among them - and she holds the movie together.

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20 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
A movie of many memorable characters., 12 September 2002

Author: Greensleeves from United Kingdom

This has to be one of Martin Scorses's most enjoyable films. The film follows Alice (Ellen Burstyn) on a journey back to happier times after a tragedy forces her to make important decisions about her life. Needing a job to raise cash for this journey takes her and her son (the remarkably cheeky Alfred Lutter) on a journey of self discovery. Having a small talent for singing she eventually secures a job as a singer in a bar but flees town after meeting psychopathic Harvey Keitel. Eventually working as a waitress in Mel's Diner she becomes involved with the strangely uncharismatic Kris Kristofferson and realises she has finally met someone who really cares for her. The performances make this a remarkable film, Burstyn & Lutter are a great double act as mother and son, Harvey Keitel frighteningly plausible as a mentally unbalanced suitor and Jodie Foster sexually ambiguous as Lutters playmate. Diane Ladd excels as hard-bitten fellow waitress Flo and Jane Curtin and Billy Green Bush make an impact with barely half a dozen lines between them. Add to this a terrific musical score and inspiring cinematography and you have a timeless classic that is just crying out for a DVD release.

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18 out of 18 people found the following review useful:
Martin Scorsese in a rare romantic mood!, 13 September 2005

Author: moonspinner55 from las vegas, nv

Starring the incomparable Ellen Burstyn, giving an Oscar-winning performance (one of the finest of the 1970s), this comedy-drama is gritty and tough, but never off-putting. After her husband dies, 35-year-old Alice Hyatt from New Mexico and her smart-mouthed 11-year-old son Tommy take to the road, chasing her girlhood dream of finding songbird success in Monterey, CA. They get stuck in Phoenix, where she meets up with a frightening Harvey Keitel. Later, waitressing at Mel & Ruby's Cafe in Tucson, she meets a gentle farmer who's had his share of heartbreak. This is a perceptive, amusingly knockabout film regarding ordinary people trying to make it, episodes in their lives that enrich or derail them. Alice and her son have a wonderfully natural give-and-take, and the oddballs they meet on their odyssey (like Jodie Foster's shoplifting tomboy or the sweet, overweight cowboy who gives Alice a singing job) are deliciously silly, yet incredibly real. Burstyn is a joy cutting up with her neighbor in the backyard, having a Coke fight with her kid in a seedy motel, trading quips with Diane Ladd's salty Flo in the diner. Some critics complained that the happy ending felt tacked on, but you come to really respect Alice and her choices, and most of the film's little faults are camouflaged by director Martin Scorsese's bittersweet framing and Robert Getchell's vivid screenplay. Far superior to the TV sitcom, "Alice". **** from ****

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19 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Flo, Vera and Mel, 22 August 2003

Author: johnson3000 from orange county

When I was younger, my sister and I would spend countless hours each day watching television. One of the programs we found ourselves glued to was Alice. For those who may not remember the show too clearly, one phrase may help jog your memory... "Kiss my grits!" If that didn't help, you probably have never seen the show (or as some folks may say... "it was before my time.")

Anyway... last night I saw a film titled Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Upon starting the movie, all I knew about it was that it was directed by the great Martin Scorsese, and that it was about a widowed wife and her son who drive across the country. To my great surprise, the character Alice is the same character from the TV sitcom. I didn't put two and two together until halfway through the film when it showed the diner with Mel and the other two waitresses. It was fun to see the other characters like Flo, Vera and Mel (the movie's Mel was the same actor as the TV show's Mel). Many of the elements were similar between television and movie; the only noticeable difference was the tone. On television, the show was a sitcom comedy made to get a good laugh every few minutes.

The film, however, was a bit more serious because of various real life situations (relationships, child upbringing, death).

This coincidence made things much more interesting as the film continued. Don't get me wrong, the movie was pretty damn good already; I just seemed to enjoy it a bit more when I started putting the pieces together. Scorsese, once again, showed his incredible directing skills. He was able to bring the viewer into the extreme pain and desperation of the main character, while at the same time, show the positive things in Alice's life through his use of color and cinematography.

Overall, the film was enjoyable because it was quite heart warming (in contrast to the more famous gangster type films by Scorsese). It made me wish that either the television show were still on syndication, or that I get to chance to see this film sometime again.

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15 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
No Place Like Home, 25 January 2004

Author: Cineanalyst

This was a lighter film than I am used to seeing from director Martin Scorsese, known for his movies with gangsters and other blighters. Of course, there are some such characters in this movie--mostly malevolent men. At first, Scorsese showcases some of his directorial ingenuity; the film opens with an old-fashioned credits screen, with Mack Gordon and Harry Warren's "You'll Never Know" playing in the background. The opening scene was in homage to 'The Wizard of Oz.' (The fences also reminded me of 'Gone with the Wind'; I guess Victor Fleming liked that fence style.) But then, Alice, as a child (played by Mia Bendixsen), says "if anybody doesn't like it, they can blow it out their ass."

"All the Way from Memphis," by Ian Hunter, carries us to Alice, 27 years older (played by Ellen Burstyn in her Oscar winning performance). Foul language and wisecracks are the brighter part of Alice's life; the other part is hopping from one abusive relationship to the next, while searching for employment. Alice eventually becomes a waitress at a diner (the scenario was revived in the lousy sitcom "Alice" (1976-1985)).

Diane Ladd earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as smart aleck waitress Flo. Jodie Foster does well as an assertive child. Ellen Burstyn and Alfred Lutter, who plays Alice's kid, carry the movie most of the way, though. When done right, teaming an adult and a child together for the majority of conversation in a film results in an enjoyable, light movie (which this one is). This was Scorsese's first commercial success; with editing and a moving camera among other tricks, his presence is revealed throughout.

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14 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Ellen Burstyn blew me away with her outstanding performance, 1 December 1999

Author: suz_elaine from USA

The beginning of the movie starts off with a bang. Martin Scorsese sees to that with his brilliant directing ability. I laughed out loud within the first minute. Even the opening credits and song were perfect for the intro. Harvey Keitel was great in his performance as well. He played his character to a T. But Ellen Burstyn completely takes the cake as far as performances go in this wonderfully realistic film. I want to rush and see every movie she's ever been in!!

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